“They didn’t as far as I knew,” added Abby. “He’s never come to the house. He’s not, well . . .”

Tyree said, “Abby’s too polite to say that Lonnie is definitely white trash. He’s come my way a few times, petty crap, stealing gas, poaching, and then there’s the addiction thing of course. Thanks for the tip, Ben. I better go check it out.”

“Has anybody told Shirley about Willie and Bob?” Abby said.

“I haven’t, but I expect she knows by now. But I’ll check in with her too.”

“I’d check her real well too, Sheriff,” Stone said.

“You think Shirley’s involved in this somehow?”

“Let me put it this way, you don’t nag your husband about deer hunting only to see him go out and get shot. What are the odds?”

“You think it was premeditated?”

“I wouldn’t necessarily except the shooter was Rory Peterson, who ended up murdered.”

“Right.” Tyree tapped his gun holster with his thumb. “Who’d ever thought the town of Divine would end up like the damn Wild, Wild West?”

He left and Abby pulled her chair closer to Stone and laid a hand on his. “I brought your bag with the clothes I packed for you. It’s in the closet.”

“Thanks, Abby.”

“And I took Danny’s cell phone from your pocket and put it in your nightstand.”

“Won’t Danny need it back?”

“I don’t think he wants to talk to anybody right now.”

“I’m sorry about everything that’s happened to you.”

“I think you’ve suffered a lot more than me.”

“It seems so complicated, I wonder if we’ll ever get to the bottom of it all.”

She looked down as she said this and Stone thought he knew why. “If Danny is involved in something not quite legal, Abby, I’m pretty sure it didn’t involve murder.”

She looked up. “You’re a mind reader too? Sort of unsettling.” She sighed. “I know my son, or at least I think I do. But there’s also the chance he might be involved in something really crazy.”

“Let me tell you something. When those guys on the train came after us again, Danny dropped one of them with a gut shot. The kid was beaten but he punched Danny again. Your son could have landed a haymaker but he didn’t. Said it wasn’t sporting to hit a man when he was down. That doesn’t sound like a cold-blooded killer to me.”

“I lost Sam. I can’t lose Danny too.”

He gripped the woman’s arm and pulled her to him. “You won’t, Abby. I promise.”

Chapter 54

CHAPTER 54